This invention relates to the field of bakery products and methods and apparatus for baking such products, and more particularly to new and improved parbaked pizza crust and improved apparatus and process for making same.
This invention primarily relates to the manufacture of pizza, a well-known type of leavened pastry usually consisting of a sheet of dough, baked with a covering of tomato sauce, cheese, seasoning and oil. As it is a relatively thin, flat sheet of dough in which the yeast has already worked, only a few minutes are required for the baking, and it is usually served hot. Nevertheless, this simple popular dish presents certain difficulties in any pizza carry-out store and in food service establishments such as restaurants where a considerable number of patrons all want their pizza at substantially the same time. As ordinarily made, it requires a specially trained baking cook with certain manual dexterity, who is rushed for awhile and then may have little or nothing to do for long periods of the day. When made in the traditional way, the dough can be mixed and proofed in advance, with the risen dough kept in a cooler; but it is not practical to form, fill and bake in advance, since the filling would lose its freshness. The filling also affects the baking of the center of the dough as distinguished from the rim. Under such conditions, small restaurants cannot afford a pizza cook.
The prior art solves the problem to some extent by making possible the advance partial cooking, by various par-baking processes, of the sheets of dough pressed and/or molded in their traditional form, including a naturally risen rim, so that the dish can be mostly prepared in advance and handled during the rush as a brown-and-serve item. This also makes possible the packaging and sale of pizzas for home cooking as a brown-and-serve item so that the average housewife can cook and serve it as a family dish. The formed dough is rather tough, particularly before the final browning, so that it will stand handling and shipment, while the ingredients for the filling can be included in sealed plastic bags. The housewife has merely to spread them on the pastry, heat to brown the dough, and serve. The process is even quicker in a restaurant, where the raw filling is available in quantity.
Although pizza is also a popular item in restaurants and pizzerias, these places most often also lack the facilities and/or labor for making the pizza crusts because they must be rolled out and prebaked before application of sauce and topping materials. For this reason, pizza crusts are often purchased from large manufacturers of crusts, partially baked, and the restaurants and pizzerias subsequently apply sauce and topping filling materials, and then bake the filled crust shortly before serving to the customer.
The crust manufacturers make partially baked (parbaked) pizza crusts in large volume, and then ship them to distributors, often over considerable distances, even by transcontinental shipping. The distributors then deliver the crusts to the restaurants and pizzerias. The partially baked pizza crusts are stored under refrigeration, both during shipping and in the restaurant prior to use, where the amount of refrigerated storage space is often severely limited.
Thus, over the years the tomato pie, or as it is more commonly known, the pizza pie or simply pizza, has become a truly national food. The popularity of the pizza today has so accelerated that it probably enjoys a pre-eminence equal to that of the hotdog or to that of popcorn. In keeping with the ever increasing demand for pizza, the food industry has converted what was traditionally a food requiring many hours of preparation into a fast food product. This has resulted in placing a variety of pizza products on the market, each of which, although for the most part a frozen food, invariably claims to provide an authentic pizza which is the equivalent of any pizza made-to-order, that is to say, a pizza which is made from freshly made dough.
In order to take advantage of this growing market, a number of companies have produced frozen pizzas for marketing to supermarkets and grocery stores. Some companies further market their frozen pizzas to fast food chains, as well as restaurants. These uncooked frozen pizza products, however, have not been found to be satisfactory. Upon cooking, such frozen pizzas have not displayed the spongy texture and freshness achieved with fresh cooked pizza. In addition, storage stability with many of these products is a problem and, therefore, such products can only be kept fresh by including large amounts of preservatives. However, as consumers become more health conscious, they become less accepting of products which employ such preservatives. Thus, the search for frozen products which display the taste and texture of fresh pizza, and can be stored without quantities of preservatives, has continued.
It has long been appreciated by those individuals skilled in the culinary art of frozen pizza making, that all of the ingredients which combine to make a pizza, the dough is by far the most important. Ideally the dough should retain a structure and texture as closely characteristic to freshly baked dough as possible, even though the pizza is purchased in a frozen state. In this way the consumer is assured of purchasing a product which closely matches a made-to-order pizza.
Much research and development effort has therefore been expended in the last several decades in efforts to make economically available a method which when practiced will yield a pizza which compares satisfactorily to a made-to-order pizza. None of the attempts in this area of which we are aware can actually claim to have succeeded in their efforts in this regard, i.e., none of these will yield a pizza which satisfactorily compares to a made-to-order pizza and that can be economically manufactured on a mass production basis in an automated facility.
One of the popular processes for providing factory pre-made pizzas has been the aforementioned manufacture by crust makers of partially baked pizza crusts in large volume using the developments in the par-baking arts that initiated with Gregor U.S. Pat. No. 2,549,595, the 1951 pioneer par-baking patent, which is incorporated herein by reference. The par-bake process in the Gregor patent was developed for making what became known as xe2x80x9cBrown and Servexe2x80x9d French bread. This type of food product has become very popular in terms of providing in supermarkets and to the food service industry semi-baked dinner rolls and various sweet rolls that have become popular retail food items. These semi-baked goods, when browned at relatively high oven temperatures in the home, or in restaurants or other food service facilities, are of excellent quality and flavor and have found wide acceptance by housewives and food service customers due not only to their palatability but also to the ease of which they were prepared in the restaurant or other food service facility, as well as in the home.
In conventional brown and serve practice, any standard dough for baked goods is divided into the desired size and semi/baked at a bakery under controlled conditions of temperature and baking time so as to substantially fully cook the dough while avoiding the formation of a crust on the outer surface and avoiding browning of the outer surface. More particularly, the baking conditions are adjusted so as to substantially complete gelatinization of the starch and liberation of carbon dioxide by yeast action and to then arrest the yeast action. The semi-baked product then has sufficient rigidity to withstand removal from the oven and subsequent handling and packaging without collapsing. In addition, the semi-baked product has a relatively high moisture content if compared to a fully baked product. The consumer prepares the product for eating by a final baking step during which the desired crust and browning of the same is obtained and during which the moisture content is reduced to that of a freshly-baked item.
It is apparent that the crusting and browning action during the final baking step for the abovementioned rolls and hearth bread occurs only on exterior surfaces of the article. The inside of the article remains relatively unaffected, it being merely heated and having its moisture content reduced to substantially that of a freshly-baked article. The result is a roll or loaf of hearth bread which to the senses of sight and taste has been freshly-baked and which is substantially indistinguishable from the same article if prepared by a conventional one step baking process.
The development of par-baked products of the aforementioned character has thus recognized the importance of the moisture content of the finished par-baked product prior to use in the final baking step, whether such be in the home, restaurant or food service establishment. The addition of moisture in various forms and in various ways with a variety of apparatus has long been known and many various efforts proposed in the prior art. The same is true in the older general baking art. For example, injecting steam into a baking oven goes back to the immediate post Civil War period with the 1869 to Betts U.S. Pat. No. 87,390. Other examples of prior art patents employing or injecting steam into a baking oven include: Zeininger U.S. Pat. No. 666,216 (1901): Embrey U.S. Pat. No. 1,169,023 (1916): Meacham U.S. Pat. No. 2,204,045 (1940): Spooner U.S. Pat. 2,767,667 (1956): British Saario U.S. Pat. No. 1,468,997 (1977): Chesner U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,184 (1977): Seneau U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,067 (1988): Seneau U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,601 (1989) and Sluimer U.S. Pat. No. 5, 171,590 (1992).
Indeed, today various makes of commercial baking ovens of conveyor and convection type designed for commercial baking processes often include the facility for steam injection into the oven compartment. One major problem, however, with injecting steam into the baking oven is, of course, its inefficiency since it may be counteractive to the baking process. Also due to phase changes thereby introduced involving latent heat of evaporation and/or latent heat of condensation, introducing steam into the oven makes it much more difficult to accurately and reliably control the interior baking environment of the oven, particularly in an automated mass production facility.
It has also been proposed in the prior art to introduce steam into the conventional baking process both within the confines of an oven compartment but generally upstream of the baking area, as set forth in the above listed Spooner U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,667. In the Spooner process of FIG. 1 and in the alternative of FIG. 1A, the steam is introduced from a manifold hood disposed above a dough being conveyed on an open conveyor in an area that is unconfined laterally, but wherein steam is injected downwardly and then recaptured upwardly by suction by drafting back upwardly into the steaming apparatus allegedly for recycling.
As set forth in the Spooner patent, the purpose of steaming as proposed in the Spooner apparatus and process, is set forth in column 1, lines 23-29 as follows:
xe2x80x9cThe steaming of certain food products, for example dough in the baking of bread is desirable in order to break down the starch cells of the surface of the goods whereby to produce a smooth and shiny surface on the baked product and to keep the skin of the product plastic while expansion is taking place.xe2x80x9d
Thus, in the Spooner process and apparatus as disclosed in the ""667 patent, the purpose and effect of the steam is to xe2x80x9clightly kissxe2x80x9d the exposed upper surface of the bread dough as it enters the baking oven chamber on the transport conveyor provided for the same. Spooner is thus not concerned with the ultimate moisture content of the product as baked, much less as par-baked.
The recently issued McKee U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,731 is illustrative of the current state of the art and problems that still remain in attempting to make successfully a par-baked pizza crust. The McKee ""731 patent is directed to a method of par-baking a foodstuff, particularly pizza crust, and more particularly to par-baking such a foodstuff so that the completely baked foodstuff is allegedly virtually indistinguishable from such a foodstuff when baked with topping thereon from the raw state in a single step. The background information and teaching of the McKee ""731 patent is instructive since it sets forth many of the current problems and thus may assist in better understanding the principles, steps and procedures of the present invention to be described in more detail hereinafter.
As pointed out in McKee ""731, raw dough is, by definition, elastic. If raw pizza dough is placed directly on a perforated pizza cooking surface (such as a chain conveyor oven), the weight of the pizza plus any pressure from above (e.g., due to hot air impingement on the upper surface of the pizza) causes the dough to collapse and to be pulled into the perforations. As a result, when raw pizza dough is cooked in an oven with moving air, it is typically held in or on some type of pan, container, platter or other cooking vessel during the cooking process. This is the way most pizzas are cooked in traditional conveyor ovens. The pizza in a pan is placed on a conveyor at one end of the oven and when it comes out the other end of the oven, the pizza is removed from the pan. The pan is not a problem in this environment; it is standard practice.
As further pointed out in McKee ""731, a traditional object in cooking is to cook quality food fast. The introduction of an additional surface (e.g., a pan) between the raw dough pizza and heat transfer means on the underside of the raw dough pizza, although enabling the pizza to be cooked and removed from a supporting surface, results in a slower cook than if the additional surface were not there. If the dough has been xe2x80x9cpre-setxe2x80x9d: sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cpar-baked,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cpre-bakedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpartially bakedxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94the pizza can be placed directly on the perforated cooking surface (without an intermediary pan) and, as a result, cook faster. This is because a par-baked pizza dough has had its dough structure set: elasticity is gone due to setting of the dough""s cell structure, and the dough has the strength to undergo the cooking process without changing shape. Using par-baked dough also speeds up the cooking process because not as much cooking is required to complete the cooking; the dough has already been partially cooked (i.e., par-baked) and merely needs to be browned and crisped during the final step of the cooking process. In fact, par-baked crusts are used frequently within the pizza restaurant industry because, when cooking speed is desired, they may allow a reduction of from 8-8.5 minutes to 5 minutes or less in the final step cook time of a 12xe2x80x3 diameter pizza (i.e., a reduction of about 20-30% of the total one-step time).
However, McKee ""731 further points out that it is generally accepted that par-baked doughs are of lower quality than doughs that are xe2x80x9ccooked from raw.xe2x80x9d After two step cooking, the par-baked doughs are typically tougher, drier, crustier (even in the central portion of a pizza) and frequently overcooked on the top and/or undercooked on the bottom.
On the other hand, there exists a strong impetus not to bake dough from the raw state. Baking the doughs from the raw state causes problems in practice which include the following:
1. It is extremely time consuming to prepare the dough. The dough retains its freshness for a very short period of time, typically a few hours, typically with a maximum of eight to twenty hours depending on the type of dough. As a result, dough preparation typically is done both in the morning in anticipation of the lunch business and in the afternoon in anticipation of the dinner business. A typical pizza dough-making procedure in a pizza restaurant often starts three or four hours before opening of the restaurant to the public. For example, the early arriving employees may be required to mix the dough, portion it, roll it, place it in a pan (with or without oil on the bottom), proof it (let is rise) and refrigerate it until it is time to cook it.
2. As the quality of the workforce fluctuates, and labor costs increase, there is increasing demand to remove the dough preparation phase from the pizza restaurants and have it done on a batch basis outside the restaurants in a central location.
3. Once prepared, raw dough deteriorates rapidly relative to par-baked dough, even when refrigerated, thus leading to waste when too large a quantity of raw dough has been initially prepared.
4. Typically pizza cooking ovens have only one setting at any particular time, and this causes problems when doughs of different thicknesses are cooked side by side because thinner doughs cook faster than thicker doughs.
The McKee ""731 patent further asserts that it has been found that the disadvantages of par-baked doughs arise as follows:
1. When a pizza dough is cooked by itself (i.e., par-baked without topping on the top thereof), more heat is driven into the top of the dough than would be the case if the dough were cooked without topping applied. This is because the topping acts as a thermal insulator for the raw dough as heat is driven into the top of the pizza. When this thermal insulator (i.e., the topping) is not present, more heat is driven into the top of the dough. This results in a tougher dough product.
2. When a pizza dough is cooked by itself, more moisture (i.e., water vapor) escapes through the top of the dough than would be the case if the dough were cooked with topping applied. This is because at least some of the topping is of low moisture vapor permeability and thereby acts as a barrier to the escape of moisture vapor driven from the top of the pizza by the cooking procedure. When the moisture vapor barrier (i.e., the topping) is not present, more moisture vapor can be driven from the top of the dough. This results in a drier dough product.
When a pizza dough is cooked by itself, the absence of a thermal insulating barrier (i.e., the topping) results in the formation of a very thin crust of film on the top as well as the shoulder (or rim) and sides of the pizza. This is because the dough is coming into direct contact with the heat from above. This thin crust or film creates a xe2x80x9cmouth feelxe2x80x9d which is foreign to the expectations of the pizza consumer. The difference is similar to the difference between toasting a piece of bread and then putting jelly on it, versus toasting a piece of bread with jelly on it during the toasting process. They both have a crisp bottom, but the latter has a soft upper bite and the former has a relatively tougher, drier upper bite once the topping portion has been passed.
4. When a pizza dough is cooked by itself, the top cooks faster than the bottom because the top is exposed directly to heat while the bottom is insulated by the pan which contains the dough. As a result, if the goal is a crisp underside, often the top must be overcooked in order to achieve the desired underside. This compounds the problems defined in (1), (2) and (3) above.
5. When a pizza dough is cooked by itself, the bottom of the pizza dough may not be sufficiently maintained in contact with the top surface of the pan bottom. As a result, the bottom of the par-baked pizza is typically white and undercooked (unless the top of the pizza dough is overcooked as described above). Ideally, the entire par-baked pizza bottom would be lightly browned and crisped, resulting in an even distribution of white and brown on the bottom of the par-baked pizza dough.
Thus, during the pizza xe2x80x9ccooking from rawxe2x80x9d process, the pizza topping acts as a thermal barrier to the top of the dough, protects the top of the dough from direct contact with the heating means, inhibits the migration of moisture through the top of the dough, and by its weight insures adequate contact between the bottom of the dough and the pan for browning of the dough bottom. These advantages are substantially reduced or lost during the par-bake step of a conventional two-step cooking process (i.e., first a par-bake step without topping on the pizza, followed eventually by a cooking completion step with topping on the pizza).
Recognizing that in a one-step pizza-cooking operation (with the pizza xe2x80x9ccooking from the rawxe2x80x9d with the topping on the top of the pizza throughout), the pizza topping acts as a thermal barrier to heat reaching the top of the dough, protects the top of the dough from direct contact with the heat, and inhibits the migration of moisture from the top of the dough, the McKee ""731 patent invention is said to provide an equivalent or superior product formed in a two-step operation wherein the dough is par-baked by providing a topping-substitute, e.g., perforate ceramic disc cover, thereon which emulates the topping in its essential respects. Other prior art commercial par-baking pizza crusts processes have employed overlaid pans for similar purposes.
Although the McKee ""731 patent process (as well as other xe2x80x9ccover-upxe2x80x9d par-baking processes) may well achieve the improved end result in the pizza crust product as stated therein, one obvious disadvantage of the McKee process is the cost to provide and use in production the so called xe2x80x9ctopping-substitutexe2x80x9d, e.g., a non-toxic ceramic cover that must be accurately laid on top of the dough of each pizza shell during the par-baking. This of course involves not only expense of providing covers, but also the high labor costs in placing and removing such covers during the par-baking process, and the associated problems of maintaining quality control in a mass production process.
In any event, the critical test of any solution of the xe2x80x9ccook from rawxe2x80x9d dough problems is that the end result must be essentially at least as good as and preferably better than, the freshly prepared product (i.e., the product cooked in one-step from the raw dough with topping on it).
Additionally, it is important to understand that any real solution to the raw dough problem must be adaptable to existing food products. There are several restaurant chains, each with numerous (in some cases thousands of) restaurant units. Their products are well entrenched within the restaurants"" customer base, and any perceived change in the product may result in a change in consumer acceptance and possibly, a decline in sales.
To summarize, the problem is that a dough cooked uncovered in two steps (i.e., a dough initially par-baked without topping or other covering on it) yields a different pizza crust than a dough cooked in one step with topping on it throughout the cooking process, the characteristics of the two-step dough pizza being less desirable than the xe2x80x9ccooked from rawxe2x80x9d or one-step dough pizza. In other words, the long standing problem remains to be solved, namely, how can the changes which occur during the one-step cooking process of a raw dough pizza be successfully and economically emulated in a commercial par-bake environment?
With these defects of the prior art in view, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved process for the preparation and distribution of baked food products.
Another object is the provision on an improved process by which baked food products may be made and distributed in a form requiring no preparation by the housewife or bakery store prior to final baking.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a process which is applicable to baked products containing yeast or a chemical leavening agent.
Another object is the provision of an improved packaged baked product in which all critical portions of the baking operation have taken place prior to distribution to the consumer.
Still another object is the provision of an improved packaged food product which has been subjected to a preliminary baking step in which the desired leavening action is completed and arrested, so that the consumer or bakery store personnel can quickly complete the baking of the product in a home or store oven, without particular preparation or chances for error.
A further object is the provision of an improved method of baking yeast-raised products to a point of full volume and rigidity without any semblance of crust color.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of par-baking a foodstuff ,such as a pizza crust pre-cursor, without topping on it so as to yield a baked dough at the end of the second (with topping) step similar to a dough baked in one-step from the raw dough with topping on it.
Another object is to provide an improved two-step baking method which produces such a product indistinguishable from the one-step industry standard product, but which method can also fit easily into the existing industry processes.
A further object is to produce an improved foodstuff par-baked by such a method.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of making a frozen food product, such as pizza, which favorable compares to or is better than a made-to-order pizza.
It is a related object of the present invention to provide an improved method of making a frozen food pre-cursor product, such as a pizza shell, which can be used, for example, in making a pizza which at least favorably compares to a made-to-order pizza.
It is another related object of the present invention to provide an improved pizza shell made by the previously noted method.
More particular objects of the present invention are to provide a new and improved frozen parbaked pizza crust adapted for subsequent in-filling with pizza ingredients and finish baking therewith, and to provide such crust with improved hydration (38% -40% moisture retention even after parbaking and freezing), improved look and finish, improved durability due to a starch encapsulating layer, longer shelf life, improved resistance to syneresis (resistance to moisture migration from the pizza sauce to the crust during finish baking), improved resistance to mold, improved resistance to stickiness of the crust when stacked (unwrapped) after freezing and improved crisp textural properties upon final baking with sauce and topping, i.e., crust is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
Further objects are to provide a new and improved formulation for making pizza crust of the aforementioned character which is particularly adapted to being processed by the improved process and apparatus of this invention, and wherein the recipe or formulation for the starting material used in the process is improved from the standpoint of providing improved leavening action and moisture retention by combining four preselected ingredients into the formulation that allow the leavening action to continue from initiation in the mixing process on through the baking process, providing improved moisture retention and moisture absorption by utilizing further preselected ingredients in the formulation, and enhancing the mouth feel of the finished crust as well as its flavor by utilizing another preselected ingredient, utilizing still another selected ingredient in the formulation to improve the machinability of the dough and make it more extendable to thereby make it easier to process the material through the automated processing apparatus, and utilizing yet another selected ingredient to thereby retard the formation of mold in the finished product during storage thereof.
Another object is to provide an improved process for making pizza crust of the aforementioned character that is efficient, reliable, economical, adaptable to automation, can utilize commercially available equipment in various stages of the process, and that is readily adjustable stage-to-stage and within each stage.
Yet another object is to provide an improved apparatus and processing system for performing the aforementioned process for making the aforementioned parbaked and frozen pizza crust product of the process, including an improved machine for pressing a dough ball pre-form in two stages with the second stage being heated, and an improved apparatus for steam treating and parbaking a proofed pizza crust, and improved corn-meal-applying machines.
In general, and by way of summary description and not by way of limitation, the new and improved pizza crust of the invention is made in an improved process of the invention that incorporates in the illustrated exemplary but preferred embodiment approximately fifteen to twenty steps following after a first step of providing a pre-mixed novel formulation of the invention as a starting material that is made as set forth hereinafter. The process as illustrated schematically and labeled in FIG. 1 includes the following steps numbered 20-68, preferably performed sequentially in the numbered step order and as listed hereinafter:
1. Mixing the pizza dough pre-mix formulation on a batch basis or continuously (FIG. 1; Steps 20, 22 and 24);
2. Dividing the mixed material from the mixing step in a divider to produce uniform measured pizza dough pieces in a timed output on a continuous basis (FIG. 1; Step 26; FIG. 2);
3. Individually forming the dough pieces into round balls in a rounder operation (FIG. 1; Step 28; FIG. 2:);
4. Individually coating the rounded dough piece balls with vegetable oil in a xe2x80x9cdownhill-rollxe2x80x9d oiler station (FIG. 1; Step 30; FIGS. 2 and 3);
5. Allowing the rounded and oiled dough piece balls to xe2x80x9crestxe2x80x9d for a given time period while riding on a soft pliable nylon net conveyor basket in an overhead intermediate first proofer station (FIG. 1; Step 32; FIGS. 2 and 3);
6. Individually loading the first proofed dough piece balls into an associated forming pocket of a transport tray or pan (FIG. 1; Step 34), and then cold forming panned balls into a dough pressing of predetermined preliminary shape (FIG. 1; Step 36); allowing the first pressed pieces to rest for a given time period (FIG. 1; Step 38); and then second pressing the pieces to hot (warm) reform the same into a product outline shape configured for forming the desired final pizza crust shape (FIG. 1; Step 40);
7. Loading the panned pressings into storage rack wheeled carts which are put into a final proofer station to allow the yeast and/or other leavening agent(s) to continue working and the pressing to rise under predetermined controlled conditions of time, temperature and humidity (FIG. 1; Steps 42 and 44);
8. Removing the carts containing the final proofed pressings from the proofer, unloading the pans from the cart racks and introducing the panned pressings onto a conveyor that goes through a steaming station to thereby hydrate the proofed pressings under predetermined conditions of time, temperature, pressure and steam impingement (FIG. 1; Step 46);
9. Conveying the steamed and proofed panned hydrated pressings through an impingement convection oven to parbake the pre-steamed and hydrated pressings sequentially in three oven zones controlled in accordance with predetermined parbake oven operating parameters (FIG. 1; Step 48);
10. A cooling stage wherein the panned parbaked crust product is removed from the output of the oven and is cooled on pan racks down to about 90xc2x0 F. (FIG. 1; Step 50);
11. Applying corn meal onto each parbaked pressing (FIG. 1; Step 52; FIGS. 12-13; FIGS. 14-15).
12. A fast freezing stage in which the panned parbaked crust products, after being so cooled to 90xc2x0, are de-panned and individually placed on a freezer conveyor and quick frozen while so conveyed to thereby produce a completely frozen parbaked pizza crust product, but with a temperature gradient remaining between surface and interior sub-freezing temperatures of each such product (FIG. 1; Step 54);
13. The frozen product is then transported to a packaging station where the product first passes through a metal detector and then is automatically machine packaged individually within a clear plastic wrap (FIG. 1; Steps 56 and 58);
14. The wrapped and carton packaged product is then transported to a holding freezer where equilibration occurs by holding the product for a predetermined time at a predetermined freezer temperature (FIG. 1; Step 60);
15. The packaged product is then moved from the holding freezer to a warehouse freezer storage facility and stored at 0xc2x0 F., ready for shipment to a Pizza Kit assembly area or to a distribution center for distribution to a Pizza Kit assembly facility and/or to individual pizza baking retail stores (FIG. 1; Steps 62, 64, 66), and 16. Fill crust with topping and final bake (FIG. 1: Step 68).